What the hell have you been through?
Nikki carefully put him on his side. She couldn’t help him lying in a pool which smelled so bad she could hardly cope with it.
”Patrik it’s me, Nikki”, she whispered while keeping an eye on his pulse. ”You’ll see we’ll make this together. You will be fine, I know that because you have always been a fighter.” Nikki saw Patrik’s eyelids flutter but then he lost consciousness again. ”Damn it don’t give up. Stay with me.” Nikki found the mobile and put the headphone in her ear. Then she called Daphne and told her about the night’s adventures. She promised to come immediately together with Sam. Patrik started moaning and Nikki continued repeating that he should stay with her. ”Patrik, help is coming and you are finally safe.” Nikki tried encouraging him to stay awake but he slowly lapsed back into unconsciousness again where there was no pain. Even though he didn’t reply Nikki continued talking to him. A head quickly appeared round the door and Nikki looked up.
”Patrik?”
”Yes”, she replied and felt everything let go. Rick switched on one of the ceiling lights and then squatted and held Nikki while she kept one hand on Patrik’s pulse. Nikki leaned against Rick’s shoulder and released all her worry and anguish. . She cried violently and Rick tried comforting her as well as he could. After ten eternal minutes they could finally hear the sirens getting closer.
”I’ll run up and guide the ambulance”, Rick said. He had a feeling that it was urgent. Really urgent.
Nikki sat on the pier completely drained and dangled her legs towards the water. Rick was sitting next to her with his arm around her cold shoulders. Although the morning air was warm she felt cold. The picture of Patrik was glued to her retina and she couldn’t stop crying.
”Thank you, thank you for calling last night”, she sniffed. She had never dreamed finding Patrik so terribly abused.
Rick searched for Nikki’s gaze and looked worriedly at her.
”Will you really manage this? Is there anybody you want me to call?” He noticed that she seemed lost when she looked up. Nikki shrugged and took a deep breath. Her head was swarming with so many different emotions she didn’t know her way out. She was surprised since she really should be upset, sad or angry but she only felt an uncomfortable feeling in her body. Who the hell had abused Patrik in such a cruel way? Nikki wasn’t quite clear about whom the offender might be but once he was captured, then all hell would break loose.
”Do you know who has done this to him?” Rick said with a kind expression on his face which couldn’t be interpreted as other than him being honest and very sad.
Nikki wasn’t sure, she felt divided. But when she thought of the accountant her hair stood straight up.
”I have my suspicions...and I promise that he’ll pay.” Her voice was ice cold and her eyes full of hatred. ”Ah, I really feel sorry for Linn.” Nikki bent over with her elbows on her knees and put her face in her hands. Her eyes were overflowing and big tears streamed down her cheeks.
”It was good she could follow in the ambulance at least. Poor soul, she was absolutely shocked”, Rick said with clenched teeth. He felt lost and didn’t know if he should keep on talking or keep quiet. He decided on the latter.
Nikki looked up and out over the water. The moon was mirrored on the surface and she could almost make out a lighter sky.
”With good reason. I can’t even imagine how she must feel now.” Nikki paused and at the same time she realized how quiet it was. No sirens or loud crickets, there was only a sad silence sweeping in over the harbour.
Rick frowned. ”It’s good that they gave her something to calm down.”
”Yeah”, Nikki agreed and quickly pushed the fringe away from Rick’s eyes. She gave him a hug and then turned toward the sea again.
”Thanks for getting in touch, I know that I’m repeating it but it’s thanks to you that we found him.”
Suddenly Nikki heard the well-known sound of a lighter, worriedly turned around and saw Carlos with a cigarette between his lips.
But where the hell is Daphne? Don’t tell me this bloody idiot came by himself?
With shaking legs she stood up and didn’t care a bit that her face was swollen from crying.
”So here you are standing there, looking like hell.” Carlos’ eyes were black with fury. ”What the hell have you done now? Don’t think that I will clean up after you if you’re in trouble, that’s up to you. And couldn’t you have chosen a better time? Do I have to be out running around in the middle of the night when we’re supposed to be sleeping?” Carlos’ ice-cold look made Nikki feel sick. Without a doubt he was sick and a danger to everyone involved with him. The tears were burning behind her eyelids but she was fighting against them and felt at that very same moment a flaming anger growing stronger inside of her. But she didn’t have time to open her mouth before Rick was by her side.
”And who the hell do you think you are, ha? Coming here, accusing Nikki of this and that when in actual fact she’s the heroine of the night.”
”Get one thing straight, young man, there are no heroines. There have never been any and there will never be any in the future either. Never, ever.” Carlos inhaled the smoke deeply and carelessly blew it out toward Nikki and Rick.
Rick backed off and thought that he hadn’t heard right.
”Who is that maniac anyway?”
Nikki took a deep breath and counted to three before replying:
”My boss, that is my boss here in Cyprus.” She could see Rick’s reaction, how he almost staggered backward from what he heard. She felt ashamed even though there was nothing for her to feel ashamed for. Carlos was the problem, not her.
”Now you’ll actually have to explain what is going on. What am I doing here in the middle of the night?” Carlos was smoking his cigarette heavily as usual and glared seriously at Nikki.
Nikki tried staying calm but she felt as though she would soon explode.
”We’ve finally found Patrik Kroona.”
Carlos stared at Nikki, inhaled deeply once again and burst out laughing.
”You mean I’m here because you’ve found your friend? Sweet-heart, haven’t you understood yet that the Chief doesn’t come out for these kinds of petty things.” Carlos’ voice was loud and he stamped impatiently with his foot on the pier.
Rick stepped between them. Nikki’s eyes were flashing and Rick couldn’t trust her not to beat up her boss. The anger was burning inside Nikki’s body and she didn’t know what to do with her negative energy. She just felt like killing the bastard. After walking around with her fists clenched she finally sat down on the pier again. She couldn’t take it anymore. She saw Rick still standing there arguing with Carlos and she left the explanation of the night’s events to him. After fifteen minutes she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and just saw a big mean smile in front of her.
”And you are completely sure that it wasn’t you abusing this Patrik then? I mean, you seem to have a feeling for beating up just about everyone.”
Nikki couldn’t believe her ears but could see in Carlos’ eyes that he was 100% serious. ”What the hell…” Then suddenly she remembered Daphne’s words.
Never raise your voice at Carlos.
”Sorry but I’m busy with more important things than to discuss this with you, so if you’ll excuse me.” Nikki made a point of standing up and started walking toward the two marine-police who had arrived at the pier. In the corner of her eye she saw a well-known face sitting on a pier by one of the ambulances.
The gorilla, what the hell.
She quickly turned around and ran up to Rick.
”Hey, what the hell is he doing here?” She whispered and carefully nodded toward the gorilla.
”Well, he seems to have come back and was a little too curious…I had to do something about the situation.” Rick rolled his eyes and showed his fists.
”So that’s the noise I heard. Then I get it but I still don’t understand what he was doing here? Because I don’t think he was involved in Patrik’s disappearance, although I think he is following….” Nikki suddenly kept quiet and remembered what he had said in the restaurant.
”What?” Rick looked inquiringly at Nikki who seemed completely lost.
”Ah, no it’s nothing. That makes it three nil to you. In other words you’ve saved my life three times within a couple of days. How much do I owe you?”
Rick blinked before replying:” So, you think you owe me something or maybe more. OK, then, I promise to come up with something really special.”
Nikki laughed. The first time since yesterday. It felt liberating. When she returned to the marine-police she could hear Carlos telling them a completely different version of what had taken place that night.
”What the hell are you telling them? Are you going to take the honour of finding Patrik, is that what you are trying to convince these gentlemen?” Nikki was shaking with anger and her voice pitched high.
Calm down, don’t forget what Daphne said. Don’t get angry with him.
”So what were we going to ask the marine-police about?” Carlos asked and smiled broadly.
Nikki bored her black eyes into the Chief who was so full of himself. ”Yes, that’s right, what were we going to ask? You should know since you’ve been leading the night’s search. What did we need to know Carlos?”
The Chief laughed a bit embarrassed and patted his bald head.
”Sweet-heart, it wasn’t me wanting to ask the gentlemen something unless you’ve already forgotten.”
”Good, then you can leave and do something useful instead and let me have a chat with them.”
After Nikki had got the information about who owned the boat where Patrik had been kept captive she turned around and went all the way out on the pier. When nobody was looking at her she carefully took out the gun and threw it as far out to sea as she could.
Friday June 14th
The sky was getting lighter over the mountains and over the village you could hear the cocks’ crowing. Nikki felt kind of strange inside. She thought she would feel relieved that Patrik had been found but now she was even more worried. She gave a big yawn and thought of how Linn had reacted when seeing her husband’s lifeless body. How would she be able to resist her abuse at the same time proving that she was the strong one in the family? Nikki wasn’t completely convinced that her friend could make it. She knew it would be hard, very hard. She had seen for herself Linn’s destructive behaviour close up. Of course she would support her but most of the hard work was up to Linn.
With ease Nikki turned the wheel and backed into the empty parking space outside the hospital. She had to know how her friends were doing before going to the police station again. With heavy steps Nikki went in the main entrance and headed down an endless corridor. Stressed doctors and nurses were rushing here and there and Nikki wondered what the quality of the health care was in Cyprus. She continued past different café’s and shops with pretty flower arrangements before finally reaching the reception.
Nikki had almost forgotten how much she disliked hospitals. The white walls smelt of death and old memories surfaced uninvited. How many times had she been in the emergency lying about her injuries? She had lost count a long time ago but she had been an expert at lying so she almost believed it herself. There were no staff to be seen in the reception and Nikki rang the bell on the counter next to a plastic mug with dry coffee. After waiting forever a nurse dressed in white finally emerged through the closed door. She looked tired and Nikki presumed she was about to finish her shift. With a dreary voice she explained to Nikki how to find the intensive care unit where Patrik was being cared for.
An alarm went off as Nikki opened the door to the department and a team of doctors jostled in the corridor to quickly reach the patient. Nikki held her breath and nervously looked around. The clock on the dirty yellow wall showed a quarter to six in the morning. She reported her arrival in the reception and was asked to wait in the waiting room until the doctor in charge was free. The big knot in her stomach was growing while she walked around trance like in the room. She stopped in front of a collage made of different newspaper cuttings where all the pictures had some connection to Cyprus. It was a great mixture of colours and Nikki couldn’t make up her mind whether she liked it or not.
Fifteen minutes later a doctor dressed in blue came out and stretched out his hand to her. His handshake was firm and Nikki noticed that his face was taut with worry. The doctor told her about both Linn’s and Patrik’s conditions. Linn was still in shock and would be kept in hospital. She had been given tranquillizers and was sleeping at the moment. Patrik was hovering between life and death. It was very doubtful if they would be able to save him. His throat was torn and certain organs had been affected by the severe dehydration. In addition he had major internal bleeding. Nikki cursed herself when she asked the mandatory question as to when the police could interrogate him. The doctor’s face told her everything she had already figured out, they would have to wait and see. They didn’t even know if Patrik would be alive in an hour’s time.
Without seeing her friends she left the sterile environment and returned still tense to the parking lot. She couldn’t quite believe that Patrik was in such a bad shape even though she had understood the seriousness of the situation when she’d found him. The pressure to find the offender had increased after the night’s events. Nikki felt the well known pressure in her stomach and hoped that her hunches would lead her on the right track. A man dressed in black with the visor down covering his face was sitting on a motorbike looking in Nikki’s direction when she reached her car. When she saw the man she stiffened. It was the man who had been hanging around her balcony the other night. She quickly found her car keys, opened the door with the remote and quickly locked the doors. Her heart was beating and another worry was building in her stomach. Was the Mafia looking for her after all?
With mixed feelings Nikki entered the police station yawning at half past seven in the morning. She felt dizzy with tiredness. She should be used to sleepless nights but the case with Patrik had encroached very heavily on her private life and it was tremendously difficult for her emotionally. The reception was empty and she realized that Katerina hadn’t arrived yet.
”Oh, it’s good you came Nikki”, Sam said and hugged her.
”How are you actually doing? Carlos has told us everything. What a bloody night.” Nikki shrugged resigned and tried smiling. ”Then I wonder what version Carlos has told?”
Sam got the point and smiled widely. ”Probably his own home-made heroic story. So tell me, what actually happened?” Nikki related her own version and started with Rick waking her up in the middle of the night until the end when they found Patrik. Sam was listening with big eyes and looked both serious and surprised during Nikki’s story.
”But how strange. I never got any phone-call last night…” He scratched his neck and pulled his hand through the ponytail and looked sincerely at Nikki. Even though she looked like something the cat had dragged in he noticed a glow in her eyes. Sam nodded happily and knew that soon the cases would be solved.
”I called Daphne and asked her to contact you but she must have called and woken up Carlos instead”, Nikki stated quietly. She quickly met Sam’s gaze and then looked down on the floor. ”Did you catch Petros by the way?” she asked and felt her body filling with hatred.
”As soon as you called and told us that Petros Christou was the owner of the boat Daphne and I went and arrested him. He’s in jail right now.” Sam nodded happily toward the blue grids.
”Oh damn. Fast job. Who is doing the interrogation?”
”Personally I think it’s better if Daphne starts and that I be her assistant. You know the good guy and the bad guy. It’s better you stay outside listening unless you’d rather go home and sleep for a few hours?” Sam looked at Nikki with understanding and gave her a warm smile.
”I couldn’t sleep anyway, I’d better stay here.” She turned around and went to the kitchen where the morning sun was seeping in through the blinds. The Panther came in behind her and now sat begging while she turned on the water boiler. He started rubbing himself against her calves and Nikki knew exactly what he wanted. She poured a saucer with milk and scratched him for a while. Her thoughts were wandering around while the sound of the water boiling was getting louder and louder. Yawning she prepared some papaya-tea, took a couple of raw-food bars and went out to sit down on the wooden chair outside the interrogation room.
”There you are, the heroine of the night. I’m sorry it wasn’t me who came last night. You know Carlos…”
”It’s cool”, Nikki interrupted and sipped her tea. ”But he’s a scum and I’d rather have seen you there in the harbour, but now it’s the way it is.”
Daphne hugged Nikki and whispered sorry in her ear. Then she took hold of Nikki’s shoulders with both hands and looked deeply into the eyes. ”What are you saying, shall we nail Patrik’s abuser or what?”
”Of course, now we’ll nail the bastard.” She had a bite of the bar and realised how hungry she actually was.
With a look of despise Nikki saw the accountant when Sam took him into the interrogation room. Finally she knew how it felt investigating a crime while you’re emotionally involved. Nikki was fuming inside. She was happy she was sitting on the outside looking in because otherwise she didn’t know what would have happened. Daphne read the suspect his rights and asked him to swear the oath on the Cyprus’ law-book.
”It’s 08.15 and it’s Friday June 14th”, Daphne said after putting on the tape recorder. ”A couple of hours ago Patrik Kroona was found unconscious and badly beaten on your boat in Pafos harbour.”
Petros stared at Daphne for a long while and it took some time before he understood the meaning of her words.
”You are hereby placed under arrest for probable cause of severe abduction of a person and the physical abuse of Patrik Kroona.”
Petros looked at Daphne, waiting.
”Do you understand what I’m saying?” Petros nodded quietly.
”The tape recorder doesn’t hear you nodding”, Daphne explained sharply. She saw his confusion and hesitation about answering out loud.
”Yes”, Petros finally replied.
”And Patrik Kroona is one of your clients at your accounting firm by the name Mr. Petros Christou & CO?”
”Yes.” The accountant seemed smaller where he was sitting in the chair opposite Daphne. His eyes were worried and he constantly twisted his hands in the lap.
”How come one of your clients was lying badly injured in your boat?”
Petros didn’t answer and Daphne sat quietly waiting for him. She repeated the question and wondered if he had understood. This once confident proud man now looked lost and insecure.
”I don’t know...” Petros bent his head in the hands and sighed deeply. His hair was standing straight up and he looked stressed.
”You don’t know how Patrik Kroona ended up on your boat out of all the boats in the harbour? Is that how you wish me to interpret your reply?” Daphne saw the change immediately. From being terrified he now seemed more like his normal self. Self-satisfied and with a mean grin on his face.
”Yes, I have no idea what Patrik was doing on my boat. Could I report him for trespassing?” He gave Daphne an inquiringly, ice-cold look and crossed his legs. The folds on his petrol green suit-trousers were sharp as knives while his shirt looked as though he had slept in it.
After an hour and a half of interrogation Daphne gave up. Petros was as hard skinned as a crocodile. He refused to answer any more questions.
”Gather in the conference room in two minutes”, Carlos shouted from his room. He felt quite happy with the development of the cases. If he was lucky the police commission would give him all the glory for how he had led the group to catch the culprit. There might even be an article in the Cyprus Post. It would really be nice to get some publicity so the inhabitants would be reminded of how important he was for the nation’s security.
The conference room felt like a pressure cooker. Everybody was tense and felt just how close they were to solving the disappearance of Patrik and hopefully this had some baring to the other three murders. Katerina had bought breakfast which she put on the table and she too participated in the morning meeting.
”I’ve spoken to the DA. Tristan has granted a warrant to search both Petros Christou’s home and place of work.” Carlos put four lumps of sugar in his coffee and stirred it so the coffee slopped out.
”Great”, Sam nodded and happily took a sandwich.
”I’ve also called Forensics and they are packing their car to go to the home of Petros’”, Carlos continued and opened the pack of his chocolate croissants.
Nikki let the information sink in and felt the adrenaline rising in her body. She smiled and straightened up on the chair. ”Finally it feels as though we have an opening in the investigation and the bloody accountant will be proven guilty, be sure of that.”
”What you think is completely irrelevant”, Carlos said and looked down at his papers. He cleared his throat loudly and it was obvious that his voice was still strained.
Nikki gave the Chief a shut-up-look while admiring her work. One eye was still yellow and green while his neck was more blue and purple.
”What an excellent comment. You’re happy now aren’t you? Did you know that as a boss you shouldn’t be unkind to your co-workers. A boss’ work is, among other things, to lift and commend the staff, but you haven’t learned that obviously.”
Carlos rose from the chair and his face was turning red. ”Don’t bloody tell me how to act as a boss. I…”
”Hey, come on. Can’t we have a pleasant atmosphere while working?” Sam gave Carlos a telling look and saw the anger in his boss’ reddish face. Carlos was just about to open his mouth but managed to touch his coffee cup instead so it fell on the marble floor with a loud bang. Pieces of china were flying here and there and the dark brown liquid was quickly spreading over the floor.
”What the hell. You have to take care of this Katerina, I have more important things to do than to go down on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor.”
Five minutes later everybody was gathered again and the smell of floor soap lingered in the old-fashioned conference room. Carlos sat on the edge of the same chair as before, once again looking out over the group.
”Right let’s get everything out in the open now.” Carlos stretched out his hand to take a sandwich and started dunking it deeply in his coffee cup.
Sam was thoughtfully twisting the pen while he was fascinated watching the breadcrumbs which were soaked in coffee getting stuck in his boss’ thick moustache.
”We’re toying with the thought that Petros is behind the disappearance of Patrik. But did he also abuse him?” Sam pulled his shoulders up toward his ears before continuing. ”And this brings on more questions. Is Petros really the ice-cold murderer we are looking for? I mean the one who also killed the other three? And if yes- what is the motive?”
”Don’t forget that Petros actually was both Sten’s and Karl’s accountant”, Daphne said and tipped her chair. ”I don’t doubt for a second that he is guilty of Patrik’s abduction. Why do you think he would hire somebody else to do the actual abuse?” She pulled her black eye-brows together so the frown between her eyes got deeper and looked at Sam.